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Monday, October 19, 2015

The T. R. R. Cobb House built in 1842 is an historic octagon house originally located at 194 Prince Avenue in Athens, Georgia. On June 30, 1975, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places.

The original part of the home of Thomas Reade Rootes Cobb
is a Greek Revival four-over-four “Plantation Plain” built about 1834.
The house given in 1844 to Cobb and his new wife, Marion Lumpkin, as a
gift from his father-in-law, Joseph Henry Lumpkin, the first Chief
Justice of the Georgia Supreme Court. Cobb made additions to the house
of new rooms, and by 1852, it had acquired its octagon shape and
two-story portico. Cobb died in 1862, and his widow remained in the
house until 1873 when she sold it.

Until 1962, the house was used for a variety of purposes including
rental property, a fraternity house, and a boarding house. In 1962, the
Archdiocese of Atlanta bought the house to use as St. Joseph’s Catholic
Church. In the 1980s, the church was planning to demolish the house, and
the Stone Mountain Memorial Association stepped forward in 1984, bought
it, and relocated it to Stone Mountain Park in 1985.

The restoration of the house never took place because of lack of
funding, and the house sat for nearly twenty years. In 2004 the
Watson-Brown Foundation bought the house and returned it to Athens in
the spring of 2005. The Watson-Brown Foundation restored the house to
its appearance of 1850; in 2008, the Georgia Trust gave their work its
Preservation Award for excellence in restoration.

The house is now open as a house museum located at 175 Hill Street in Cobbham historic district.

The M. Pembroke - Pope House is a two story white frame house in Greek Revival style, c. 1918. The roof is capped by a widow's walk, an architectural feature unusual in the South. Extensive grounds with formal gardens have settings of boxwood, oak and large magnolias.

This home with a historical past is now For Sale by it owners and you can Click Here for the listing.

The Margaret Mitchell House is a historic house museum located in Atlanta, Georgia. The structure was the home of author Margaret Mitchell. Located in Midtown, at 990 Peachtree Street, the house was known as the Crescent Apartments
when Mitchell and her husband lived in Apt. 1 on the ground floor from
1925 to 1932. While living there, Mitchell wrote the bulk of her Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, Gone with the Wind. The house also contains a Visitor Center, and a portion of the museum is wholly devoted to the filming of the 1939 film based on the book.

The house is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is also designated as a historic building by the City of Atlanta.

House History

The house was built as a single-family residence in 1899. Commercial
development quickly overtook the neighborhood, however, and in 1907 the
original family moved to Druid Hills.
The house changed hands several times until the winter of 1913-1914
when the house was moved onto a new basement story constructed on the
rear of the lot. Given a Crescent Avenue address, the building was
remodeled in 1919 and converted into a ten-unit apartment
building, known as the Crescent Apartments, and "three brick stores"
were built where the house had originally sat. Located in what was then
Atlanta's largest business district outside of downtown, close to
trolley lines, and walking distance from her parents' house, the
Crescent Apartments was home to Margaret Mitchell
and John Marsh when they married in July 1925. Unfortunately, the
building's owner became over-extended, and it was sold at auction in
1926. The next owner, too, was driven to bankruptcy
when the stock market crashed in 1929. Maintenance declined,
contributing to Mitchell's characterization of their apartment as "the
Dump." By the fall of 1931, there were only two occupied apartments in
the building, one of which belonged to the Marshes, but they, too, moved
to a larger apartment a few blocks away in the spring of 1932.

With a new owner, the Crescent Apartments were revived and continued
to attract tenants until shortly after World War II. By then, the
building was in poor condition, and in 1946 the porches were removed
from the Crescent Avenue side of the building. (The original front
porches were lost when the building was moved in 1913). By the 1950s,
the building
was mostly vacant and overdue for rehabilitation. There were a few
commercial tenants, and the old apartments were popular with Georgia
Tech students. In 1964, the opening nearby of Ansley Mall signaled the
death knell for the old commercial district on Peachtree Street between
8th and 14th, but at the same time the Crescent Apartments got a
much-needed rehab and were reborn as the Windsor House Apartments. In
1977, the last tenants were evicted and the building boarded up by a new
owner who intended a major redevelopment of the area. By the time he
and his company went bankrupt in the late 1980's, their only
accomplishment was construction of a new office building at Tenth and W.
Peachtree and the razing of dozens of historic buildings in the area.
The old Crescent Apartments continued to deteriorate, especially after a fire was set in the southwest corner of the building did minor damage in the late 1980's. However, another fire, presumed to be arson, destroyed much of the building in September 1994.

The new Delta Flight Museum is a 68,000 square-foot facility at the
airline's world headquarters in Atlanta. Housed in the airline's two
original maintenance hangars dating from the 1940s, the museum traces
Delta's history and the development of commercial aviation. The museum
contains exhibits filled with hundreds of items many of which have
never been on public display chronicling more than eight decades of
Delta history. The museum houses five historic aircraft including The
Spirit of Delta, a Boeing 767 purchased for the company by employees in
1982. Also on display is a DC-3, Ship 41, that flew for Delta and was
restored by Delta employees and volunteers. Visitors can try the
ultimate aviation experience and pilot a Boeing 737-200 full-motion
simulator, the only one open to the public in the U.S. The hangars
also serve as unique event venues, with state-of-the-art audio and video
capability and full catering services that can accommodate a seated
dinner for as many as 1,200.

Thursday, October 15, 2015

Johnston-Felton-Hay House, often abbreviated Hay House, is a historic residence in Macon, Georgia. Built between 1855 and 1859 by William Butler Johnston and his wife Anne Tracy Johnston in the Italian Renaissance Revival
style, the house has been called the "Palace of the South." The mansion
sits atop Coleman Hill on Georgia Avenue in downtown Macon, near the Walter F. George School of Law, part of Mercer University.

The 18,000-square-foot (1,700 m2), 24-room home designed by the New York architect T. Thomas and Son
has four levels and is crowned by a three-story cupola. Commissioned by
imaginative owners and constructed by the most skillful workers of the
time, its technological amenities were unsurpassed in the mid-nineteenth
century: hot and cold running water, central heat, a speaker-tube
system connecting 15 rooms, a French lift equivalent to today's
elevator, in-house kitchen, and an elaborate ventilation system.

House history

Two families lived in Hay House, the first over four generations.
Most of the home's present-day furnishings date from the Hay family's
occupancy (1926-1962). A few pieces are from the Johnston family
(1860-1896), most notably the Eastlake-style dining room suite. The most
notable piece in the collection may be the 1857 marble statue, "Ruth
Gleaning," by American expatriate sculptor Randolph Rogers.

The home was a place of comfort for the Johnston family and their
daughters until the late 1800's. In 1896 after the death of Mrs.
Johnston, their daughter Mary Ellen Felton and her husband lived in the
home. The Feltons updated the plumbing and electricity and stayed in the
home until the time of their deaths in 1926.

The Johnstons

The Hay House living room

William Butler Johnston obtained his substantial wealth through
investments in banking, railroads and public utilities rather than from
the agrarian cotton economy. In 1851, he married Anne Clark Tracy, 20
years his junior, and the couple embarked on an extended honeymoon in
Europe from 1852 to 1855. During their trip, the Johnstons visited
hundreds of museums, historic sites and art studios. They collected fine
porcelains, sculptures and paintings as mementos during their grand
tour. Inspired by the Italian architecture they observed, the Johnstons
constructed the monumental Italian Renaissance Revival mansion in Macon upon their return to America.
Only two of the Johnstons' six children survived to adulthood. Caroline
and Mary Ellen Johnston were born in 1862 and 1864, respectively, and
grew up in the house on Georgia Avenue.

The Feltons

After the death of Mrs. Johnston in 1896, daughter Mary Ellen and her
husband, Judge William H. Felton, lived in the house. They remodeled
and redecorated parts of the house, updated the plumbing and added
electricity.
Their only child, William Hamilton Felton, Jr., was born in 1889. He
married Luisa Macgill Gibson in 1915, and the newlywed couple soon moved
in with the Feltons. They and their two sons, William Hamilton Felton
III and George Gibson Felton, lived in the house until 1926.

The Hays

After the deaths of William Sr. and Mary Ellen Felton, the house was
sold to Parks Lee Hay and his wife, Maude. After purchasing, the Hays
redecorated the entire home, updating it to fit the new
twentieth-century décor. The home was seen as a local landmark to all in
middle Georgia. Mr. Hay died in 1957; when Mrs. Hay died in 1962, the
home was turned into a house museum. In 1977, the Georgia Trust for
Historic Preservation took over ownership of the home and it is now a
National Historic Landmark.

Present day

Following Mrs. Hay's death, her heirs established the P.L. Hay
Foundation and operated the house as a private house museum. By virtue
of its national significance, Hay House was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1974. In 1977, the ownership and operation of the house was formally transferred to The Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation to ensure its long-term preservation.

In 2000, the White House Millennium Council designated Hay House an Official Project of Save America's Treasures in 2000. Today, Hay House is one of Macon's most popular tourist attractions with 20,000 visitors each year. The House is also a prominent rental venue for special events.

Hay House Campaign

Recently, the Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation
which oversees the management and maintenance of Hay House embarked on a
successful $7.6 million capital campaign for the restoration and
maintenance of the building. Of the money raised in the capital
campaign, $3.5 million was earmarked to establish an endowment for
ongoing maintenance. A need of $17.5 million has been identified to fund
a complete restoration of the Hay House and permanently endow all
future maintenance and management.
The Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation received a number of donations and grants including a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services, a grant from the National Endowment of the Arts, and an Architectural Conservation grant from The Getty Foundation.

Restoration

Today, Hay House is open to visitors. Tours are held daily. Some of
the plants in the landscaping of the home date back to the 19th century.
Renovations continue to occur to keep Hay House up to date. Upcoming
projects include a redesign of the gift shop, including new insulation,
and writing specifications for mortar repairs outside of the building.
Half of the money raised in the capital campaign was allocated for
restoration of the exterior, cupola, and most public rooms of the house.
Other restoration efforts include repairing the porch and stairs,
masonry, and window and door shutter; conserving the stained glass;
installing UV protection on windows; restoring the ground floor, attic,
and cupola; lighting the 8,000-gallon water tank interior to illustrate
the technological innovations of the house; conserving the collections
of paintings and porcelain; and repairing the exterior grounds. Original
furnishings and decorations in the downstairs rooms are also being
researched in order to accurately restore the wall coverings, paint
finishes, and furniture upholstery to their appearance during the Hay
family's residency in the house.

Ding Dong is an unincorporated community in Central Texas. It is situated on the Lampasas River, eight miles south of Killeen in southwestern Bell County.

Ding Dong was named when two early settlers in the town, Zulis Bell
and Bert Bell, opened a store and hired the artist Cohn Cohen Hoover to
make a sign for it. Hoover painted a sign with two bells on it. Inside
the bells, Hoover painted the initials of the Bell brothers. Underneath
one bell he painted the word "Ding" and the word "Dong" under the other
bell. Over the years, because of this sign, this community became known
as Ding Dong. It has frequently been noted on lists of unusual place names.

Monkeys Eyebrow is a rural unincorporated community in Ballard County, Kentucky, United States. It is generally the northwesternmost community in the Jackson Purchase area of western Kentucky that is identified on the highway maps distributed by the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet. It was formerly frequently mentioned in the signoff message of WPSD-TV in nearby Paducah as the location of its transmitter. The community is part of the Paducah, KY-IL Micropolitan Statistical Area.

A nearby attraction is the state-controlled Ballard County Wildlife
Management Area. One theory on the origin of this unique name is that,
when looking at a map of Ballard County, it resembles a monkey's head. Monkeys Eyebrow is located where the monkey's eyebrow would be located.

A common joke in the region is to provide directions to the city of Paducah by saying "it's halfway between Monkeys Eyebrow and Possum Trot (a tiny community in Marshall County)."

There were two Monkeys Eyebrows, commonly known as Old Monkey and New
Monkey. One was at the top of a small hill, the other at the bottom.
There were stores at both locations. Today, there are no stores.
According to an article nearly 30 years ago in the county newspaper, the
Advance Yeoman, the area acquired its unique name around the turn of the 20th century.

Stories related to Monkeys Eyebrow and Ballard County can be read at www.monkeyseyebrow.org or www.monkeyseyebrowstories.com.

In Don Rosa's The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck, the place name Monkey's Eyebrow also appears.

Lizard Lick is an unincorporated community in Wake County, North Carolina, United States. The community is located at the crossroads of Lizard Lick Road and NC 97. Lizard Lick has frequently been noted on lists of unusual place names.

The community is approximately 20 miles (32 km) east of the state capital of Raleigh. It is about 3 miles (4.8 km) north of Wendell and 3 miles (4.8 km) west of Zebulon.

History

According to NC historian William S. Powell, the town got its name
from a "passing observer who saw many lizards sunning and licking
themselves on a rail fence." Regardless of the town name, local
community members who are native to the area are proud of their origins,
and their economic future in the area. In May 1997, the state installed
the first traffic light in Lizard Lick, marking a new period of
"increasing property values" and growth.

Media Attention

In March 1998 the small town received publicity when Nintendo first released the Nintendo 64 game, "Yoshi's Story" there, with the name of the host town reflecting the Nintendo character Yoshi's ability to extend his tongue over a long distance.
The pre-launch choice of Lizard Lick was the idea of Pasadena,
Calif.,-based PR consultant Dereck Andrade. Andrade had been retained by
the public relations firm Golin-Harris in L.A. to launch Yoshi's Story.
Andrade chose two cities—French Lick, Indiana, and Lizard Lick, as
possible launch sites for the game. Lizard Lick was finally chosen over
French Lick because the character of Yoshi was a dinosaur, which was
related to a lizard. The game's launch in Lizard Lick was the largest
event ever covered by the news media for a Nintendo product, bringing
national and international news media to the crossroads town including
ABC World News Tonight, the CBS Evening News, and NBC's The Today Show.

In September 2009 Lizard Lick once again received publicity, this time on a national level. The Time Warner owned TruTV
cable television network became aware of a local towing and recovery
company owned and operated by evangelist and Lizard Lick honorary
"Mayor" Ronnie Shirley and his wife Amy Shirley, called Lizard Lick
Towing and Recovery.

According to the Eastern Wake News, the television series got its
start at the end of August 2008, when the station sent a cameraman down
for one day of shooting and that was all it took for a contract to be
written. Those at the network were merely scouting out prospects at the
time, but after realizing Amy Shirley was not only a power lifter, but a
mortician and co-owner of the recovery business they realized there was
more color to the picture than originally anticipated.

In addition, they soon discovered that Ronnie is a "walking reality
show." Robyn Hutt, the truTV executive in charge of the show was quoted
by the News & Observer
(the largest regional daily newspaper of the Research Triangle Area
covering several counties in North Carolina) "We really fell in love
with Lizard Lick." The Shirleys are "dynamic and entertaining
characters."

The television series (Lizard Lick Towing) following Ronnie and his company operations was called All Worked Up,
and had a discussion forum, Ronnie's published poetry, interviews with
the stars of the show, and further information including the scheduled
show times. The Shirleys now have their own show called Lizard Lick Towing.
It is a half hour program that is shown on the TruTV network. The show
premiered on February 7, 2011. It is dedicated entirely to Lizard Lick
Towing and Recovery due to its fast growing popularity from the segments
of the show All Worked Up.

Goose Pimple Junction is an unincorporated community in Washington County, Virginia, in the United States.

History

Goose Pimple Junction was so named when the domestic disputes of a couple in town were loud enough to give a neighbor goose pimples.

Goose Pimple Junction has frequently been noted on lists of unusual place names. Its road signs are a popular visitor attraction, and have been stolen by souvenir-hunting tourists at least a dozen times.

Enigma is a town in Berrien County, Georgia, United States. The population was 1,278 at the 2010 census. It has frequently been noted on lists of unusual place names.

History

Enigma is a small town in South Georgia located in the northwest tip of Berrien County, 9 miles (14 km) east of Tifton, on U.S. Highway 82.
The town was founded between 1876-1880 by John A. Ball. It did not
start out named "Enigma". Originally a settlement, it was commonly
referred to as "Gunn and Weston" until Ball decided he wanted a real
name for this town. Two names, "Lax" and "Enigma", were proposed to
state officials for review. Lax was already taken by another nearby
settlement, and so "Enigma" became the official name.
Enigma is an odd name for a town; by definition it means a puzzle or
mystery. Ball said, "It was a puzzle what to name it anyway." The town
was incorporated on August 21, 1906.

Ball and his family originated in Raleigh, North Carolina, traveling to Georgia on the Brunswick and Western Railroad. He became the town's first postmaster, and not long afterward, Capt J.B. Gunn from Terrell County, Georgia, came as an assistant. Ball and his son Jim started a turpentine
business around 1878. Ball returned to Raleigh to bring back a man
named Tubb Daughtry and his family to help run the business. He gave
them land to live on and permission to worship as they pleased. The
turpentine business soon dwindled, and lumber became the main focus.
Capt. J. B. Gunn and Capt. S. R. Weston built a sawmill two miles east
of Enigma. H. F. Stewart came to work in the sawmill.

Other businesses opened in Enigma throughout the years, including a
grocery, merchandise, and hardware stores. E.F. Bussey set up a
merchandise store in a building owned at one time by Gunn. This building
also housed the U.S. Post Office and sold coffins on its second story. It was located on the south side of the railroad. The railroad's closest depot was in Brookfield,
4 miles (6 km) away. Enigma had a doctor's office run by G.R. Parker.
There have been three banks in Enigma throughout the years. Two banks
were started around 1915 to 1917, and the other one was started in 1973.
The People's Bank opened in 1915 and closed in 1916, and the
Ambrose-Enigma Banking Company opened on June 5, 1917, and closed around
1920. The Bank of Alapaha opened a branch in Enigma on March 1, 1973,
and is still in business.

Economy

Most citizens of Enigma commute
to neighboring towns to work and shop. The town's economy is based
primarily on agriculture. The Tree Trunk Restaurant (owned by Bobby
Rowan, former senator of Georgia) is its only restaurant, and it has
three gas stations - the Quick Stop #2 (#1 is in Tifton), and the Enigma
Market, which is also a mini grocery store. Both are located on Highway
82. Also located on Highway 82 is B&G Heating and Cooling, a small
business run by Bob Miley and other members of the Miley family which
specializes in repairing and installing air conditioning units. Also on
Highway 82 is REPASCO, a small business owned and operated by Linda
Wiley specializing in restaurant equipment sales, parts, and repair
service. The post office, Glass Unlimited, Volunteer Fire Department,
City Hall, the salon (Freida's Beauty Barn), and the Bank of Alapaha are
all located on Main Street. Just off Main Street is the factory Geo
Tex, LLC Plant #2 where screening is made. There is also Berrien Peanut
Company two and a half miles outside of Enigma, and there was once a
skating rink about a mile from Berrien Peanut Company. There are other
buildings on Main Street and Highway 82, but they are currently vacant.

Schools

The Enigma school was located on the north side of town. It started
as a one-room school house, then moved to a three-room school house. A
large brick building was built in 1926 to serve as a new school, also on
the north side, just across from Highway 82. In the 1950's all county
high schools were consolidated into Berrien High in Nashville, the
county seat. The original Enigma school building was still in use as
part of the elementary school when it burned in October 1973. The
gymnasium and cafeteria were still standing, and portable classrooms
were brought in so the school could continue until it was rebuilt.
The school merged with the other schools in the county in the 1980s to
form Berrien high, middle, elementary, and primary schools. The school
grounds now serve as the Enigma City Park.

Functions

The park holds the town's annual Fourth of July
celebration, consisting of vendors, exhibits and the Miss Enigma
Firecracker Pageant, each year. The town also hosts a Halloween Trick or
Treat and a Christmas Parade each year.